The North Olympic Peninsula Railroaders will host the 11th annual Train Show and Swap Meet at the Sequim Prairie Grange, 290 Macleay Road, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

The event is free and open to the public.

“Those of us who started it wanted to get more people interested in model railroading as an avenue for a hobby,” said Lauren Scrafford, who has helped organize the event since the first in 1999.

“When we first started out, we had a couple hundred people on both days, but at this point, we probably have 250 or 300 people on Saturday and on Sunday we still get 100-plus people.

“It is something really fun to do for the whole family or maybe the grandparents and the grandkids.”

Hands-on display

The model train will have a special display for children to play with.

“So many places, it is ‘look but don’t touch’ — and we do have that element with some of the displays — but we have a model set up that kids can play with and run themselves, so it is a really great hands-on activity,” Scrafford said.

Club members and vendors will sell model railroad items and memorabilia.

The Railroaders will have their H0 model train modular layout on display and operating during the show.

H0 scale is defined as a scale of 3.5 mm to 1 foot.

A larger G-gauge layout also will be on display.

“There are all sorts of different sizes of models, and we’ll have a lot of them set up at the show,” Scrafford said.

Door prizes, including four gift certificates, will be awarded, as well as a starter set for youths 12 and younger.

“This event is something that it is our goal to try and pass on our knowledge of model railroading,” Scrafford said.

“It is an excellent activity for people of all ages, girls and boys alike, and for the whole family.”

For more information, phone Scrafford at 360-379-3280.

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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.